Explanation:
Late last year, a new, remarkably
bright storm erupted in
Saturn's northern hemisphere.
Amateur
astronomers first spotted it in early December, with
the ringed gas giant rising in planet Earth's predawn sky.
Orbiting
Saturn, the Cassini spacecraft was able to
record this close-up of the
complex
disturbance from a distance of 1.8 million
kilometers on December 24th.
Over time, the storm
has evolved, spreading
substantially in longitude,
and now stretches
far around the planet.
Saturn's
thin rings are also seen slicing across
this space-based view,
casting broad shadows on the planet's southern hemisphere.